Who Doesn’t Love a Dog on a Beach?

January 11, 2013 by David Rattiner

If you look at the current law in Southold, specifically at Chapter 193 of town code, there is a law that says no dogs are allowed on beaches or any recreational area. Period. This was written in 1981 and has had many dog owners more than a little annoyed.

Many people don’t follow the law and simply bring their dogs to the beach in the mornings to play, and almost everybody has lived just fine. But last summer a Mattituck resident brought the code to the attention of board members when he was allegedly attacked by two dogs running on the beach in Southold, and he requested that a law be passed that required dogs to be on leashes at all times in recreational areas. The board responded by revisiting the laws regarding dogs in public areas, and you may be surprised what they’ve decided to do. I certainly was.

The legislative system, although quite slow, can get it right. The “absolutely no dogs” law is now considered too restrictive (duh) and a vote is coming in to amend it, which would allow owners of dogs to bring them to the beach under certain conditions.

I’ve always wondered, why anybody would be against bringing a dog to the beach? They should be against dogs that pose a danger to people at the beach. They should be against dog owners not picking up after dogs at the beach. But to be fully against any dog at any time is remarkable to me. It’s like making a law that says you can’t bring food to the beach. That causes a mess, too! And what about a beach chair blown about by the wind—that’s dangerous, right?

How can you be against a dog on the beach? It’s a wonderful thing. But if you want to address a potential problem, fine. Write laws that target dog owners for endangering people. Don’t write them against ALL dogowners.

But no, because a few people on a few separate occasions didn’t like a particular dog on a particular beach that THEY were on, or because a few dogs may not have been responsibly controlled, NO DOGS ALLOWED rules get written. It’s the good old-fashioned rule of “If something unusual and strange happens ONE TIME, then it must be banned for everybody.”

I’m convinced that certain people would try to ban curbs on the East End if they tripped over them.

Go West, Young Man (and Woman)

Two friends of mine decided they would bring my girlfriend and me into New York City to see, as they called it, “Something that the two of you are really going to like.” I don’t get into Manhattan enough, so the two of us headed in last Friday night because we were intrigued by the mysteriousness of the idea.

We wound up at Fuerza Bruta, and it’s the craziest show I’ve ever been to. It has something of that weird “Blue Man Group” feel to it, but instead of blue men playing drums you have actors and actresses flying all over the room to electronic music. If I were to describe it to you in one sentence, I would say that the show feels like you are awake watching the dreams of somebody else.

Fuerza Bruta hails from Argentina and a few locals from the Hamptons have been working at the show for several years now. I’ve heard that it is going to close soon, but due to popular demand they are thinking about keeping it open. So, if you’re looking for an excuse to head into New York for a night,check out my video (and my blog, of course) on danshamptons.com.